A politician told one of the TN Parent writers how they toured a KIPP charter school in TN and were so impressed... how the students were well-behaved little angels, the teachers were young and energetic (and wore tight skirts), how the school was just perfect and he wanted those schools in his own district.

Well, now we know the secret...

The charter schools and ASD leaders certainly don't want you to know about this, and they spend a lot of energy and PR dollars trying to cover it up, but truth has a way of finding the light...

On the Schools Matter blog, Jim Horn of Cambridge College interviewed a former KIPP teacher. He writes:

On VIB (Visitor in Building) days, at least one KIPP school puts up to 30 problem students in the empty basement for hours until the visiting investors, dignitaries, or politicians have left the building. Also during this time, no class changes occur, even though visits might last three hours. Children are, in essence, in lockdown mode in their classrooms so that no infraction or non-compliant behavior during class change may be seen by outsiders.[emphasis added]

The teacher tells in detail about when visitors were in the school building:

We used to have a special schedule when we had visitors in the building. For instance, sometimes we’d have, you know, investors or big-wigs walking through the building. And so we would have a separate schedule where we would pick out all the behavior issue kids and take them down into the basement for the duration of the visitors’ visit, to kind of keep them out of the way. So you know, that’s one very, like, clear example of sweeping something under the rug.

So in the morning, we would receive an email or a special schedule that said VIB schedule, Visitor in Building schedule. And it would basically list all of the students that needed to be in the basement area, and it would tell us the specific times that they were supposed to be there. And we would also, for instance, we would not transition from class to class if there was a visitor, because the transitions from class to class would sometimes be, you know, kids are kids, and so they would sometimes not listen, or they would run, or whatever the case is. And our administration didn’t want the visitors to see anything less than perfection. And so we would hold students in the classroom when normally they’d be transitioning from class to class. So the visitors didn't get the impression that the school was anything less than very well managed.

So, legislators and important people, hidden beneath your very feet and in classrooms out of your sight were the "problem students."

Horn's interview of this former KIPP teacher is quite enlightening. The teacher admits there was "a lot swept under the rug as far as things that also aren't so great." The teacher tells of "cultural things like, I can only speak to what I experienced in my day-to-day, and so that was a lot of yelling, a lot of berating students, a lot of, you know, physically confronting students."

Also interesting is a comment below the article:

I am a former KIPP teacher. (I worked there before the internet was a big deal) I am glad that the public is now able to see the treatment that KIPP students and staff face at these schools. I can personally attest to the fact at the KIPP school where I worked that students did in fact "loose" their desks due to misbehavior and had to sit on the floor. Kids who misbehaved had to go "on bench" which means they had to turn their uniform shirt inside out for the day and no other students were allowed to speak to these kids. If regular public schools tried to pull this crap it would be all over the news.

Click HERE to read the rest of this insightful interview. You can also read much more of Jim Horn's detailed research on KIPP schools, including how their grade retention rates are higher than public schools and how KIPP kicks out low-performing students to boost their stats, by clicking HERE.

The bottom line is that the "miracle" of the KIPP charter school model is riddled with deception and questionable practices. Smart leaders should question the well-oiled PR from KIPP.

My husband and I have been mentoring a young student for several years now. Through his elementary years, he struggled to focus at school and maintain positive peer relationships but benefitted from the modifications afforded him. We were hopeful that KIPP Academy Nashville, where he began middle school, would also embrace his differences and offer him tools for success.

Unfortunately, though, KIPP was not willing to do so. The student was told he must withdraw after violating school rules during his sixth grade year. As a teacher, many of the most rewarding moments in my career have involved challenging students who habitually violated school rules, so I was surprised at how readily KIPP was willing to release him.

In response, we asked the school leader to allow him to finish the year on the condition that we increased our involvement and put immediate interventions in place. We knew that a spring transition would be difficult for him, potentially intensifying his behavioral struggles. Despite our efforts, KIPP refused to let him stay for the remainder of the year.

Before signing withdrawal papers, his parent requested a psychological evaluation. KIPP had never initiated any testing even though they deemed his behavior disruptive enough to warrant his dismissal. By law, potential disabilities and formalized behavior plans should be considered prior to expulsion, but choice schools get around this by sending students back to zoned schools.

The student remained at KIPP during the course of the evaluation and his parent provided written permission for the school to communicate with us regarding his progress. During that time period, we met with all of his teachers, enrolled him in counseling at Oasis Center, reminded him daily to complete homework, bought him a belt and shoes to ensure compliance with the dress code, made sure he went to all assigned detentions and served those detentions with him. We relayed information to his parent who could not get to the temporary KIPP location easily on the bus and frequently worked late hours. We made every effort to reinforce KIPP’s expectations for him.

At the conclusion of the psychological evaluation in April, the results revealed a disability and indicated that the student would qualify for exceptional education services. Seemingly apathetic to this revelation, KIPP proceeded with his dismissal anyway, and he entered his zoned middle school days before TCAP testing began.

KIPP’s decision to follow through with the dismissal despite having the added support of counseling, mentoring, and formal services suggests interests not related to the child’s well-being. Typically, a school welcomes the support of community agencies in addressing a student’s needs, realizing truth in the old adage, “It takes a village.” What is more, the allowance of such exclusion implies that choice schools are either above certain challenges or ill-equipped to handle them—neither of which is accurate.

Shuffling students around school districts is not in the best interest of those students or our state. This practice communicates a lack of commitment likely to be internalized by the child, and frequent school changes will lead to achievement gaps. A strain is placed on zoned schools as a steady stream of students enters throughout the year. Additionally, the public is misled as choice schools boast high performance without disclosing the questionable means employed.

We must examine any policy that allows schools to decide who they will and will not teach. When a student enters a school--charter, magnet, or zoned—it is the obligation of that school to serve him. I have never once attended an education class, professional development training, or meeting with colleagues in which getting rid of a student was suggested as a means to manage behavior, improve class climate, or raise academic achievement. In contrast, we learn to think creatively, find resources, and build positive relationships with students. As inconvenient as this may be in these times of performance rankings, evaluations, and overall high stakes, it is our responsibility to make sure all students are being served adequately and that the decisions we make about their lives are ethical and implemented equally across all schools in our state.

(This was posted anonymously, with permission, to protect the privacy of the student & mentor.)

Authors: real parents & real teachers from TN

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